Robert Toale, a lawyer whose practice is based in Gretna, has been appointed to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' board of directors, the association announced Monday. Toale was sworn into office Aug. 2, during the association's annual meeting in Philadelphia.

A former Jefferson Parish public defender, Toale now practices exclusively on criminal defense in state, federal and juvenile cases in southeast Louisiana. He has served as parliamentarian for the Alliance for Good Government and is on the Louisiana Justice political action committee's board.

"I am honored and thrilled to be able to serve as a board member of the NACDL and look forward to being on the cutting edge of working to improve our system of justice," Toale said.

A graduate of Loyola University's School of Law, he has served as president of the group's state arm, the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In that role, he sought to abolish the death penalty in the state and to increase funding for indigent defense programs. He is certified by the Louisiana Public Defender Board to be lead capital trial counsel and touts having tried the first 12-person jury trial in New Orleans' Criminal District Court after Hurricane Katrina.